Lies, deceit, and all the human intricacies that come with them simply do not exist in this creature's world. He is cursed with sincerity. When he looks at Rocket's blade, it is with inhuman, unconditional adoration and worry. Someone has hurt a person he cares about. There is nothing deeper to it than that. That is all he needs to know.[break][break]
"You, you're-" He struggles to put it into words a person could understand. His eyes move to the injuries, trying not to blush at a younger man touching his head. "You're hurt! Someone hurt you! How could I not come here?!" He admonishes, like that explains anything.[break][break]
"I dunno what I'd do if..." This sword is a paradox. All he can do, the sole purpose for which he was made, was to kill for his masters. That, and that alone, is his purpose. Only in Galar did he truly contemplate death and what it meant. The thought of this person, who feels so cold to the touch, crossing beyond the threshold of death, makes his heart swell until it's fit to burst.[break][break]
"I'm just glad you're okay."

"Even I know you can't keep a secret on this sub, Senpai. The grunts talk." His words hold the false joy of someone on the brink of losing everything. He smiles because some part of him knows he could lose this beautiful creature and his resplendent swordplay. He smiles because he would not send such a sublime sword to the afterlife with a frown. His senpai deserves better than that.[break][break]
"You're gonna get better! Anything you need? Say the word. I'll grab it for ya. Yumi keeps me busy with knockin' skulls in the casino but...I'll find ti-"[break][break]
He freezes. His whole face seems to be locked in place, save his eyes. They alone move. The black at the center of the amber shrinks. He takes a sharp breath. Every little unshaven hair along his arms, back, and hand stand on end. Lips slowly curl into a snarl.[break][break]
Something is here with them. It draws out his humanity like nothing else. He feels hatred. He doesn't know what it is, but every instinct he has tells them that presence is wrong.[break][break]
Instinctively, he puts himself between that thing and his senpai. If it wants him, it must go through the dog. Cats and dogs are natural enemies, and his heart beats with the rage to prove that old wives tale true.[break][break]
"...the hell's goin' on?" A creature that cannot fathom the emotions he feels asks his rock for guidance.

Ice touches fire. In this creature shaped in steel burns an endless fire, an urgent, fanatical flame. He tries to protect this beautiful human, but there is nothing to protect him from. They have bonded. This great man to whom the dog’s canine soul sings has done what all great men do. He has found his destiny bound with something even greater. Doubtless, this is good for Rocket, a monolithic organization this creature little understands.[break][break]
Caught in the ebb and flow of his own lives and the lives of those around him, he cannot see the whole. Many will espouse the grand boon – all for the glory of Rocket. Glory, he thinks, is just as meaningless to the dead as anything else. He wishes his soul was his own to sell, to barter it for the man’s freedom.[break][break]
“I’ll kill you.” All he can do is snarl those words to the snow leopard. Never in his life has he wished death upon something. Death, in his world, is something that happens or it does not, always on another’s orders. It is never an active wish. Amber eyes burn with hatred so intense they threaten to melt.[break][break]
“If you hurt him or Yumi, I’ll track you to the ends of the earth. You hear me?” He tries to move forward, but only to hold a cold hand fiercely. It is different from the way other creatures might hold the hand. It is intimate, but there is no human, romantic warmth in the gesture. What he feels is an animal’s scorching loyalty. He would try to kill this monster for the human, even if it killed him. This man, and he alone, is someone who could make a loyal animal forget a promise to always stay alive for Yumi Hasegawa .

There is a moment where his life sits at a crossroad. It hangs in the balance, enough weight in either direction forever altering his destiny. His lips form an unmistakable snarl, tilted up just enough to expose sharp canines. There is nothing human about the way he regards the monster that his cursed his friend.[break]
He wants to leap, to tear, to sink his fangs into it. He wants to destroy it now, for he has seen the terrible destiny foretold by his instincts come true.[break]
But if I stand up right now, I die.[break][break]
That is what his instincts tell him now. Death is his destiny, should he press this issue. Death, and broken promises. Instead, he sits, watching in silence as it returns to the corner. Only a human voice returns him to the moment, rather than far-flung futures.[break]
"...I'm sorry, Senpai." He does not know what, precisely, he is even apologizing for. For not being strong enough to be in the room with him? For antagonizing his patron? He stands, obeying the absolute commands. His fellow grunts will not have to force him out.[break]
"I ain't gonna fall behind. Not when y- when Rocket needs me."[break]
As he nears the door, he turns back, pointing a finger right at the human's heart.[break]
"Get better soon! Everybody else sucks at kenjutsu on this sub!"